After five years of research and development, Baume & Mercier unveils its first new collection for women since the Linea. Called Promesse, the savvy new line of automatics and quartz watches with straps and bracelets, was launched earlier this summer at Gotham Hall in New York City. It was an intriguing event that not only highlighted Baume & Mercier’s incredible history and support of women since its inception, but also underscored the concept of love behind the new Promesse line. Upon entry to the grand space that is Gotham Hall, I was given a lock and a piece of paper. On the paper I was asked to write something I wish for. The lock was to go onto a metal wall set up just for the event. Like many bridges around the world that are sagging with the weight of innumerable locks placed on them by lovers, the wall was covered with locks – all representing different peoples hopes and dreams. The surreal effect was not lost on me. Promesse is all about celebrating love and relationships, and about making a promise come true. The ultra-feminine collection of timepieces features a new case shape inspired by the brand’s rich history. In typical Baume & Mercier style, the brand researched its roots before delving into the project. However, instead of creating a direct re-interpretation of an archival piece, Baume & Mercier opted to incorporate the style and architectural lines of several 1970’s pieces, blending them with a mix of modernity for a superb outcome. “We could look to our archives for inspiration and to fulfill our brand DNA, but we could not directly reinterpret a watch or we would be wrong,” says Alexandre Peraldi, head of the design team for Baume & Mercier. “We needed to stay carling in today’s...

For more than three decades, Ella Gafter has been creating classically elegant jewelry designs. Gafter first formed her family business, Ellagem, in the heart of Naples, Italy, which was her home country. She worked only with the finest gemstones, exquisitely cut, and set them into sumptuous designs — works of art — if you will, for women with taste . Her passion for pearls, rubies, and emeralds melded magnificently with her keen eye for balance and harmony, and her haute joaillerie took on a life of its own. Among her signature looks are pieces set en-tremblant – so that as the wearer moves, the gems on the piece of jewelry also move with grace and beauty. This setting is one of the most difficult to achieve and is time-consuming work. It is also one of the most rewarding settings, as it enables Gafter to feature a bird’s tail feathers, for instance, that move, or flower petals that sway in the wind, or butterflies whose spots seem to dance as one walks. Gafter is know for classic elegance — offering floral designs, animals and pearl masterpieces that will take your breath away. Interesting, while classic elegance seems to be a code, modern and edgy also comes into play in her pieces. Today, with her daughter Talila running the New York office and the business side of the Ellagem, Gafter continues to craft brilliant creations with exceptional stones. Each piece must be perfect. Gafter is a master at selecting the richest rubies, emeralds and sapphires and blending them into unique distinction. Buying an Ellagem piece means buying art, nature and investment all at once. Sophistication at its best. Gafter spends her time traveling between her recntly built retreat in Umbria (not far from Rome), the workshops in Italy and the company’s headquarters in New York, when she is not busy scouring the world...

By Samantha Walsh Jaeger-LeCoultre achieves the ideal alchemist’s blend of beauty and technology — not to mention celestial allure — with the newest Haute Horlogerie High Jewelry Rendez-Vous collection. This women’s’ line, which is brought together by a myriad of precious stones and watchmaking complexities, features some very unique watches that reflect the world’s natural timekeeping. Among the new Rendez-Vous pieces in jeweled glamour are the high-diamond Night & Day wristwatch that glitters as brilliantly as stars in the sky. It is available in two sizes: the 29mm, which is adorned with 468 sparkling diamonds, or the 36mm version which features 699 gems. Both of these wristwatches boast a white gold case with blue hands and a matching blue satin strap. What makes this timepiece exceptional is its signature dial featuring a sunray pattern and highlighting the watch’s day/night indication. The interaction between the iridescent diamonds and the bright blue creates a feminine and elegant look. Another divine highlight of the collection is the Rendez-Vous Celestial. This limited edition, 18-karat white gold watch features a bezel set with baguette-cut diamonds, which light up the zodiac calendar. The month indicator shows the position of the constellations at any time of the year. This watch features a unique rendezvous indicator, which is controlled by the crown and adorned with an inverted diamond. You can set the inverted diamond marker to any time that is special to you – perhaps a secret rendezvous time. This timepiece is accented with a blue alligator strap, which beautifully compliments the blue mother of pearl, sky chart background featuring the constellations. The automatic Caliber 809 movement powers the watch. Jaeger-LeCoultre’s Rendez-Vous collection may well be one of the most alluring watch lines for women on the luxury watch market today — it offers a great blend of...

Today’s finest watch brands are bringing the mechanical magic of timepieces to ultra-feminine levels, with a move toward women’s watches with tourbillon escapements. One of the most complicated and coveted horological feats, the tourbillon (“whirlwind” in French) is a highly precise mechanism that eliminates errors in timekeeping caused by the force of gravity when a watch is in certain positions. The tourbillon escapement is immediately recognizable thanks to the entrancing dance of the constantly revolving mechanism, which further underscores the beauty of the piece. Incredibly difficult to build, the tourbillon has become the object of watchmaking competition, as brands strive to invent ever more advanced tourbillon timepieces. The most recent direction: women’s tourbillons. The creation of women’s tourbillons is a deft blend of top-notch Swiss craftsmanship and innovation. Built only by master watchmakers with dozens of years of experience, women’s tourbillons are ever more challenging to bring to fruition than men’s tourbillons, as typically the movement parts are smaller. This Jacob & Co. Pink Sapphire Brilliant Tourbillon, crafted in 18-karat gold, features a one-minute flying tourbillon that is mesmerizing in and of itself. Enhancing it further, Jacob & Co. has meticulously set the watch with 400 baguette-cut pink sapphires weighing 36.75 carats total. The cost – about as much as a nice house in New Jersey — $810,000. ...

Easily one of the most beautiful and alluring category of women’s watches on the market, secret watches have roots that are centuries old. Essentially, a secret watch is a timepiece that has a cover over the dial that can be flipped open or moved aside to reveal the dial and the watch time. Today, secret watches are all about the elegance and beauty – enabling women to wear works of art on the wrist. Vacheron Constantin, a brand with more than 250 years of history, has been making secret watches since its inception. One of the more recent introduction is the Lady Kalla Haute Couture à Pampilles watch. This stunning timepiece is crafted using 34.64 carats of diamonds meticulously set to form a floral-inspired masterpiece on the wrist. The brand even utilizes the special flame-cut diamonds that are unique to Vacheron Constantin in the watch world. Because secret watches have hinged covers that slide aside or open, they are not at all easy to create. The mechanics of the case and cover are complex, and so watch brands opt to parallel the technology with equal parts of beauty and elegance. It should be noted that because these watches are typically quite elaborate in design, they often command hundreds of hours of diamond or gem setting or enamel painting. As such they usually are made in limited numbers and can command top dollar for the result. In the case of the Vacheron Constantin Lady Kalla Haute Couture a Pampilles watch, which houses a tiny manually wound movement, just one will be created per year. It retails for...

Christophe Claret is a master at creating complicated timepieces for men — and has offered a host of watches on which one can actually play casino games. Now, this master of watchmaking continues his gaming concept of playful watches for the wrist – this time releasing his first ever women’s watch: Margot. For its creation, he was inspired by the romantic act of plucking the petals of a daisy one by one to find the answer to the riddle “He loves me, he loves me not.” To incorporate this concept into a wristwatch, Claret developed a new complicated and ingenious mechanism that helps to predict the answer. With the press of a pusher at 2:00, the watch comes to life. Each time the wearer presses the pusher, a single petal or a pair of petals randomly falls off the daisy that fills the center of the dial and disappears beneath the dial. With each press, a melodic chime resonates in typical Claret style. He is, after all, the master of musical timepieces. Finally, the answer appears in French calligraphy at 4:00. It seems that in France, the game does not yield a simple yes or no answer. As befits the French, they have many modalities of love, ranging from a not at all, to a little to passionately — and this watch gives one of those multiple answers. The complex movement of the Margot consists of more than 700 parts. The watch, created in four versions each in a limited edition of 20 pieces, houses the EMT17 automatic winding caliber with an incredible 731 parts and 95 jewels. Built with two barrels, it offers 72 hours of power reserve. The 42.5mmm case is offered in white gold with or without baguette diamonds. The dial is blue mother of pearl...

Recent Posts

About

Launched in 2014 by Roberta Naas, veteran watch journalist and author of 5 books on watches, WatchSeduction brings insightful, behind-the-scenes looks at ladies watches and their makings that few have access to. We also offer celebrity profiles and other one-of-a-kind unique articles found no where else in the watch world.

Founder, Editor in Chief

Roberta Naas

Contributors

Nancy Sindt
Samantha Walsh

We accept written contributions only from qualified watch journalists, knowledgeable collectors and authorities in the field so that we never compromise on ethics, integrity or precision.